Basketball Data Analyst

This is a Full Time Job

Position Overview: The Washington Mystics Basketball Data Analyst is responsible for designing, testing, and building statistical models and reports to support the Mystics. This position will be an integral component of research efforts and will be a member of a dynamic team consisting of programmers, developers, statisticians, analysts, and data scientists. This role will work closely on projects impacting the decision-making process for the Washington Mystics alongside the Basketball Operations staff.

Are you a proactive self-starter who is passionate about basketball? We'd love to hear from you!

Responsibilities:
• Provide the basketball operations departments with the best empirical data and data analysis available, ensuring objectivity and integrity of information through meticulous analytical models.
• Use data to identify possible solutions to strategic questions, including areas of player evaluation, game management, in-game tactics, roster building, salary cap strategy, and broader WNBA league trends.
• Build and develop systems, analytical models, foundational structures, and machine learning models to support decision-making processes for the Mystics.
• Work with the larger research team to maintain a multidimensional and secure information system that anticipates the needs of the front office and coaching staffs.
• Set up a player database to track player development of overseas prospects in the best international leagues in order to widen the pool of available options when it comes to roster building. Develop and identify critical metrics that can help predict performance of international prospects coming to the WNBA.
• Track and evaluate practice stats to build a practice database that includes individual as well as team metrics to help advise the front office and coaching staff on early trends (outside of game action). Build out an information system that allows decision makers to extrapolate expected outcomes based on practice performance (e.g. developing evidence-based expectations on how practice success in different areas will translate to in-game performance).
• In close collaboration with the front office and the coaching staff, develop a metric that quantifies process of possessions over outcomes (going beyond traditional PPP measurement of performance). Breakdown of game film to evaluate quality of possessions.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:
• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience in STEM field including Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Data Science, or similar domain.
• Basic knowledge of WNBA, team rosters, and league trends.
• Experience with basketball data, including play-by-play and sports tracking data such as Second Spectrum markings or raw data.
• Experience with standard SQL and other database management tools.
• Experience with data visualization principles and tools.
• Excellent analytical skills with experience researching and analyzing data.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Flexibility to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed.
• Past WNBA, NBA, or other basketball operations/research experience.
• Experience using Python, R, or other statistical programming languages.
• Experience with advanced statistical modeling.
• Knowledge of the international basketball scene.
• Experience with basketball video editing software.

Pay Range: $80-105k USD.

Benefit Eligibility: This role is eligible to participate in health and welfare benefits.